Emily got up off the bed and clapped her hands. “Come on,
Macallan! It’s the New Year, a new start, a new beginning!
Anything’s possible.”
I felt a sense of dread envelop me. Because anything was possible. But those last ten minutes had made me realize
that maybe that wasn’t a good thing.
76
New beginnings are overrated.
I know. I’ll never understand why everybody puts so much
emphasis on January first. There are three hundred and
sixty-four other days in the year that you can make a change.
Or make a fresh start.
Or start a diet.
You’re not al owed to starting cooking with low-fat ingredients.
Obviously.
Or, you know, hide something from me ever again.
Well, you’re never allowed to leave the state of Wisconsin
again.
Yep. That total y seems fair.
I can only control so much.
If only you could be in charge of the world.
Finally someone gets it! I should be in charge of the world.
Wouldn’t life be so much better?
Obviously. First law as Queen of the World?
Banishment of the Chicago Bears.
On second thought.
Hey, it’s my world. I get to rule it as I see fit. What if I made it so you’d be the standard against which all guys are judged?
Like you don’t already do that.
Right. Question: How many suns are there in your world?
C H A P T E R S I X
I practicaly ran off the plane the second we touched down in
Milwaukee.
It was funny. I had spent the last eighteen months wishing to be in California, but once I got there, I realized all I’d left behind in Wisconsin. Sure it was cool to get to hang with my old buddies. But I missed my girls: Macal an and Emily. I guess most guys would’ve thought I was a player since I had two girls. But they meant completely opposite things to me.
Macal an was kinda my better half. The yin to my yang. Um, that sounded way dirtier than I meant it to.
And Emily was an awesome girlfriend. She radiated this positive energy. I could tell she was always happy to be around me. What guy wouldn’t want that?
Although I have a confession to make. I lied to Emily over the
break. I told her I wasn’t getting back until Saturday evening, when in fact my flight arrived in the afternoon. I only did it because I wanted to see Macal an first. I knew Emily would want to see me right away, but I still owed Macal an her present.
79
I had a stupid grin on my face when I rang the doorbell at the
Dietzes’ house.
“Hey!” I picked up Macal an in a tight grip when I saw her.
“Hey back!” She laughed as I put her down. “How was the culture shock?”
I walked into the foyer and started taking off my many layers. “It was more the shock of getting off the plane just now and being hit with the cold air. I was wearing flip-flops on New Year’s Eve.”
Macallan winced slightly.
“Everything okay?”
She shook her head a little too vigorously. “Um, yeah. Ah, it’s only that, um, it’s strange to think of celebrating the holidays in the heat.
Mom used to get so mad if there wasn’t snow on the ground at
Christmas.”
Macal an’s odd behavior was now making sense. I knew how
much her mom loved the holidays, so this time of year must’ve been particularly hard on her. Which probably also explained the mess in the kitchen. There were pots and pans everywhere. Macal an cooked a lot when she was trying to clear her mind. Or trying to distract herself from something. And with us being on winter break, she didn’t have homework to fill that void.
I rubbed her arm, thinking it would be the best way to comfort her.
Ever since we’d gone to the cemetery, I knew it was okay for me to bring up her mom. I was so honored when she took me. It cemented how important our relationship was. But I also knew that if she wanted to talk about it with me, she would. It was getting to the point that I could read Macal an pretty wel . I knew when she needed to be prodded into saying something and when she needed to be left alone. And the look on her face screamed, Leave it alone.
80
“Wel , I’m used to the good weather year-round,” I reminded her.
“And I’m sorry I asked you to lie to Emily about when I was coming back.”
“Yeah . . .” She started cleaning up the counter. “Do you want
something to eat?”
I’d never passed an opportunity to eat anything she made.
Macal an put together a plate of fudge brownies, Rice Krispies treats, and a slice of pecan pie.
I reached into my bag and pul ed out her present. “Merry
Christmas, a week late.”
She hesitated before she opened it. “It’s not a Bears hat, is it?”
I laughed. She’d given me a Green Bay Packers knit hat to help
me “fit in.” Everybody had gotten a big kick out of that, especial y Adam. But after all the ribbing, she’d also given me a coupon for a homemade meal of my choice. It was my favorite gift that year.